Elaine Loughlin: EU cannot put action against Israel on the long finger

Irish Examiner

21-05-2025

Israel has crossed every red line.
We have looked on with sickening horror at the attacks on hospitals and refugee tents, the murder of aid workers, the arrest and torture of doctors, the forced displacement of an entire population, and the killing and starvation of innocent children.
A new term has been coined: WCNSF (wounded child, no surviving family).
It describes the many thousands who are barely surviving in a hellscape having been orphaned, maimed, and continuously traumatised by what they cannot unsee.
Just yesterday in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, another line was crossed when the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) shot at a group of EU and other diplomats visiting a refugee camp.
And yet it has taken until this week, amid warnings that 14,000 children will die in the coming days if aid fails to reach them, for the majority of EU states to decide to take action.
Why now? And more importantly, what next?
The move to review the European Union-Israel Association Agreement now makes it clear 'that the countries see that the situation in Gaza is untenable, and what we want is to really help the people, and what we want is to unblock the humanitarian aid so that it will reach the people,' high representative for foreign affairs Kaja Kallas said.
While Israel unleashed a brutal attack against a people who had already been living in an open air prison, a war of attrition to change minds has been ongoing at EU level.
Considerable diplomatic and political work has gone on behind the scenes since Ireland delivered a letter alongside Spain asking for an 'urgent review' of the agreement back in February 2024.
'It's been quite a bit of work, we have been drilling down at this for ages,' one senior government source said.
Sources have noted that for a considerable period now, Ireland, Spain, and to a lesser extent the Slovenians have been dubbed 'the usual suspects' when it comes to pushing an outlier stance at EU level.
It was unsurprising that, despite Benjamin Netanyahu's crossing of multiple red lines, the request for a review of the trade deal was ignored for more than a year.
However, in recent weeks, there have been subtle changes in position, which has ultimately led to a majority shift. The intervention of the Netherlands, which had been a strong ally of Israel, was viewed as a turning point.
In a letter sent to Kallas on May 7, Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp described the situation in Gaza as 'catastrophic' and stated the association agreement should be reviewed.
Irish sources described it as 'a surprise development', but 'one we welcomed'.
It prompted a flurry of quiet diplomatic outreach by Tánaiste Simon Harris in a bid to expand the coalition of countries calling for a review.
A Palestinian girl struggles to obtain donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip last week. Picture:Abdel Kareem Hana/AP
Work began on a joint letter to Kallas in advance of this week's summit, which was eventually co-signed by the Slovenian, Spanish, and Luxembourg foreign ministers as well as Harris.
At Tuesday's meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Kallas asked each politician to lay out their stance on the issue and to make it clear if they would support a review.
In a number of cases, she had to seek further clarification from member states, including Romania and Cyprus, asking them to make their position fully clear.
The meeting was described as 'charged' and 'emotive' at times, and the number of countries that did shift positions was surprising. Others may follow, with Lithuania stating that it would prefer to wait to see how much aid gets into Gaza.
In laying out Ireland's position, it is understood that minister of State Neale Richmond asked his colleagues if they have children and asked them to imagine what it would be like trying to keep their own family alive in Gaza right now.
In the end, 17 EU states backed the call to review the agreement.
The significance of this departure at EU level must be acknowledged and welcomed, but there are fears that a final decision to sanction or indeed cut some trade ties may be long-fingered.
A paragraph in the letter to Kallas highlighted the fact that 'work already undertaken will enable us to progress quickly and without delay', adding that there is a 'special urgency for the European Union to react'.
The unprecedented gravity of the situation on the ground requires a proactive approach and visible leadership from the European Union.
However, the bloc has been devastatingly slow in acknowledging Israel's war crimes up until now.
If the EU Commission does find that Israel is not upholding its human rights commitments contained in the agreement, it will have to propose measures and could go as far as even suspending the 1995 trade deal.
'You do the review, it finds that there have been humanitarian abuses, then what?' one senior Government source asked.
While there has been a significant shift in relation to Israel at EU level, nine member states — Germany, Hungary, Italy, Czechia, Croatia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Greece, and Bulgaria — remain opposed to carrying out a review of the agreement.
'One day, when it's safe, when there's no personal downside to calling a thing what it is, when it's too late to hold anyone accountable, everyone will have always been against this,' Canadian writer Omar El Akkad posted online back in 2023, in the very early days of Israel's sustained and brutal bombardment of Gaza.
In many respects, it feels like his words have already come to pass — but that must not stop the EU from finally taking swift actions against Israel's genocidal actions.
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